


"can you stop blushing for once, Ash?"

by laanatdelrey



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crush, Love Confessions, M/M, POV Outsider, Teen Romance, Teenagers, ash is pining, asheiji, cheesy af, featuring my ocs, i guess, no canon here, panicky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24943003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laanatdelrey/pseuds/laanatdelrey
Summary: Ash needs help confessing to his crush, exchange student from Japan and member of the track and field team, Eiji Okumura. Will his dorm mates be able to convince Ash to ~finally~ stop pining and confess for once?
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 4
Kudos: 91





	"can you stop blushing for once, Ash?"

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone! I just want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who said such sweet comments on my coffee shop asheiji fic i wrote. It was my first fanfic and the amount of sweet comments i received really made my heart warm, thank u so much *cries*
> 
> Now, a bit of info about the setting of the story. 
> 
> This highschool asheiji au takes place in my OCs world--they’re a bunch of teenagers ranging from ages 14-18 living in this house together, you can say it’s like a student motel or a dorm kind of thing, and Ash lives there with his dorm mates! And he’s pining for his friend ;))  
> Ash is 16 in Grade 11/junior year, and Eiji is 18 in grade 12/senior year.
> 
> Enjoy!!!

“Anyway, so as I was saying, I went up to that Clarissa girl and told her that if she doesn’t shut her trap, I’m gonna shove that purple crayon up her--Oy! Ash, are you even listening to me?”

In Sofia’s bedroom, Ash was sitting on her beanbag chair and snapped back immediately from his abyss of thoughts, and readjusted his position from resting his chin on his knuckles and staring at the giant Blackpink poster hanging on her wall so he was facing Sofia directly. 

She crossed her arms and pouted. “Hmm! You weren’t listening to me, Ash.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Ash responded.

A playful but mischevious smile appeared on her face. “Well, you seem to be dreaming a lot lately Ash. That’s so unlike you. Is it because you’re thinking about something? Like...a _crush_?”

Ash blushed. “N-no! Not at all!--”

“Oh Ash, just because I’m only eleven years old doesn’t mean I can’t read you like a book!” Sofia quipped. “Look at you! Are you..pining, is that the word?”

A cherry red tint rushed over Ash’s face. “I am NOT pining at all Sofia!”

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m not!”

“Stop capping, Ash.”

“Wait..how do you know about that slang, Sofia?”

“You’re changing the subject! Now, answer my question. Are. You. Pining, Aslan Jade Callenreese?”

There was a pregnant pause that lingered in the air as Ash carefully considered her question. He slowly nodded. “Yeah...”

A playful expression graced Sofia’s features. She transferred her way onto her wheelchair from her bed and then proceeded to wheel herself around her room. 

“Alright, Ash..” She said when she rolled around in her electric wheelchair, and dramatically made a turn and turned her head to look at him. “Tell me about this girl you like. Is she nice?” She spun around. “Funny?” She stopped moving and then spun her head to Ash. “..pretty?” 

Ash watched her spin around in her electric wheelchair in confusion (why is she acting dramatically?) and then began. “My crush is a dude.”

Sofia faced her wheelchair towards Ash, and crossed her legs together and rested her chin on her knuckles, a snarky expression settling over her face. “And?”

“W-well, he’s an exchange student from Japan, and his name is Eiji Okumura and he’s my friend--”

“You mean the one who comes over to the house on Tuesdays for tutoring sessions with you?” Sofia inquired. Ash nodded.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“I’m surprised. You guys seem really different from each other. He’s so nice though, he showed me some photos he took on his camera. Anyway,” Sofia continued, “So, what’s so special about this guy?”

“U-um, everything about him” Ash confesses, “He has the fluffiest black hair and chocolate brown eyes that glow like honey on a warm summer afternoon. And he has such a calming, beautiful face that _reeked_ of kindness. And did I mention that he’s president of the Photography club? And he’s a pole vaulter in the track and field team? And so creative?”

“You’re being weird, Ash.” Sofia cringed.

“It’s not even about his looks though, he’s such such a nice person to me,” he continued, “He could have decided to hang out with anyone else but he decided to pick me, and you know that people see me as nothing but a pretty brainiac who hangs out with the outcasts of the school--y’know, my friends Shorter, Sing, Cain, Yut Lung--”

“Why haven’t you confessed to him yet?”

Ash paused. “I-I don’t know when, I-I was gonna but--I-”

“Wow, Ash. You’re too scared to confess your love, huh?” Sofia smirked.

“That’s because I’m not sure if he likes me back!”

Sofia wheeled closer to Ash. “For God’s sake, Ash, find a quiet moment where it’s just the two of you, go up to him, and SAY YOU LIKE HIM! MAN UP!” 

He shrunk further in his beanbag chair. “O-okay.”

Sofia flicked her brown, curly hair. “Good. I don’t know about any of this love confession stuff. Go ask Grace for some advice on confessing, because I’m no love expert. But do you promise that you’re gonna confess?”

“I promise, Sofia.”

“Pinky promise”

They linked their pinkies together. 

“Well, tomorrow’s Tuesday, right? Eiji’s coming over, so you better get ready--”

“NOOO!” Ash cried out in despair, “I can’t confess to Eiji that early!”

“Then go figure it out! Remember, no breaking pinky promises!”

\---

Leaning on the kitchen cabinet while watching Grace cook chicken lasagna for dinner, Ash asked Grace for advice. 

“Why don’t you make cookies for him? That’s what I did to my boyfriend--I made strawberry cheesecake cookies and Brandon loved them! There’s a three ingredient Nutella cookie recipe you can use. I’ll send the recipe to you.”

“Ah, okay! Thank you, Grace.” Ash beamed

“You’re welcome. You can make the cookies after dinner. Also.” Grace winked, “Good luck!”

\---

After two bad batches and a carton of eggs gone to waste (turns out cooking wasn’t Ash’s speciality) Ash finally managed to make a tray of heavenly smelling Nutella cookies. Satisfied with the final product, he crawled into bed and tossed and turned over how he was going to confess to Eiji. What would happen if Eiji didn’t return those feelings back? Ash was completely unsure. His eyelids grew heavy, and he finally succumbed to sleep.

\---

Ash finally settled on a plan. 

He and Eiji will continue their tutoring session in the little library room in their dorm as usual. Then, once they finish a portion of their work, they’re going to sit on the roof of the house and watch the clouds, and eat the Nutella cookies together. Then, Ash will confess his feelings, and if Eiji feels the same way perhaps he can lean in for a kiss…

Except it was raining today, so they couldn’t sit on the rooftop. And the roommates finished all of Ash’s cookies. 

See, Ash’s high school ends at 3pm, but the rest of the roommates come home an hour early. Ash arranged the cookies in a pretty looking see-through jar, but he forgot to hide them so the jar was on the counter. Basically, the dorm mates finished all of the cookies. And boy, was Ash angry when he came home with Eiji to an empty cookie jar. Ash’s romantic plan was ruined!

He ushered a confused looking Eiji in the study room (“ _I’ll be right back, I just have to get something”, he assured him_ ) and then proceeded to the living room where everyone was lounging. 

“Guys? Why did you finish all of my cookies!” He fumed, “I was gonna give them to Eiji!”

“Oh, you were the one who made the cookies?” Saadia asked cluelessly, “They were pretty good, not gonna lie.”

“UGH! My plan is ruined! How am I gonna tell Eiji I love him now?” 

A few boys raised from their chairs. “Hold up, what--”

Ash angrily stormed to the kitchen, grabbed animal crackers and apple juice boxes, and stomped upstairs. He slammed the library door.

“Ashu?” Eiji asked in the adorable way he pronounces his name, “Is everything alright?”

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Ash replied softly. “Anyway. Can you show me the essay you wrote for Mrs. Mathy’s Literature class? I’ll see if i need to make any corrections.”

They munched on their snacks as they continued working on their homework assignments together. Ash watched as Eiji squinted in concentration, carefully typing out the corrections on his Macbook. 

_Here goes nothing,_ Ash thought. _Is now the right time to confess? You guys are alone together now, so..._

“Eiji?”

  
He looked up from his laptop screen, “Yes, Ash?”

At that moment, Ash’s mind went completely blank.

Ash twiddled with his thumbs, and swallowed hard. _How do I do this? Do I say “I like you” or tell him about how much he’s impacted your life?_ Either way, that big brain of his was not functioning. At all. 

“Oh. It’s nothing.”

Eiji nodded, and then went back to work.

Ash mentally facepalmed. _Dammit, I screwed up! I really wanna tell him I like him...but how?_

\---

The gloomy, rainy afternoon transcended into a glowy late afternoon. The dark clouds parted to reveal the bright, shiny sun, and the dark, wet atmosphere soon transformed into a lovely ambience of birds chirping merrily and a bright light shining, completed with a rainbow in the sky. 

Ash and Eiji were facing each other in front of the house. Ash took a moment to admire the golden hour light illuminating Eiji’s features, his skin turning a beautiful golden-orangish color and his deep brown chocolate eyes glowing like caramel pools of honey. 

At that moment, a sudden wave of courage crashed upon Ash. _I’m going to confess_ , Ash thought determinately, _and I’m not going to mess up this time._

He gave a thumbs up towards the window, where Sofia and Grace were, faces pressed against the window and nodding. 

Ash shifted from one leg to another, head bowed down. 

“It was pleasure to be here today,” Eiji smiled, “Thank you for helping me with homework, Ash. Although you are quiet today”

“I-I was not quiet!” Ash responded, “A-and you’re welcome Eiji. Also...I have to tell you something, if you don’t mind.”

Eiji nodded. “Yes?”

Meanwhile in the house, Sofia ushered all of the room mates over. “Guys! Ash is confessing to his crush!”

“OOOOOOOO!” Grace squealed as Saadia squeezed her way through the crowd that was peeking through the window. “Hey, what’s going on? I can’t see!” Ben exclaimed as he peeked through the curtain.

Ash took a deep breath. 

“Um, Eiji...So...I remember when you first came to America as an exchange student from Japan. And I was touched by your kindness--you were so nice and friendly towards everyone, and I could see why everyone wanted to be friends with you.” He gulped.

“I was so surprised that day when you decided to sit with me and my friends. You knew that we were the biggest outcasts of the school, but you didn’t care. And you didn’t see me only as a smart kid in the class, you actually took the time to get to know me. You were always there for me when no one else was, and I appreciated that. So much.” Ash confessed quietly.

“You are my best friend, Ash.” Eiji beamed. “I’m grateful to have such great friend like you!”

“Yeah,” Ash blushed and scratched his head. “But, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Eiji..I like you. A lot. For. A really long time.”

Eiji froze. For a moment they remained silent, with nothing but the sound of the wind and birds chirping. 

_Oh god. I don’t think he likes me._

“Oh, uh, Eiji, sorry about that, I--”

Eiji leaned over and kissed his cheek. 

At that moment, the roommates, who were pressed up against the window, went _feral_ \-- they collectively hooted and banged on the glass until Sofia yelled a muffled “Shut up or I’m gonna use my potty mouth!” at the crowd. 

The boys looked back at the window and blushed. Then, Eiji looked back at Ash, a pretty red blush rising over his face. “I’ve liked you for a long time too, Ash.” He confessed. 

_Victory!_ Ash’s inner self cheered. 

“O-okay, I’m glad you like me back.” Ash stuttered. “Does that mean we’re like...a thing now? Because my roommates literally ship us together.”

“I guess we are?” Eiji nervously chuckled and then looked down. Ash gently gripped his hands with his, and looked down at Eiji. He raised a hand to cup Ash’s cheek and paused--

A collective hollering sound emerged from the window. “What are you doing, just kiss him already!” Ben and the boys hollered, “C'mon, don’t be a pu--”

Ash smirked at the crowd, and brought Eiji closer.

Eiji realized what was happening. He stood on his tippy toes, their faces angled in a different direction--and their lips finally met.

The entire group of roommates yelled and hooted and cheered together, and when the couple finally separated, Ash whispered “I’ll drop you home” to Eiji. Eiji smiled, and the new couple linked hands, and together they walked to Eiji's house.

  
The room mates cheered, and as Sofia watched Ash holding hands with Eiji, she sighed happily. “Glad you finally confessed your feelings for once, Ash.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was too lazy to proofread this yikesss
> 
> Aaaand, that is it! I hope you enjoyed this fan fiction featuring the asheiji in my OC world (and hopefully made you egg Ash on confessing his love, perhaps.) The crowd cheering on Ash *finally* confessing to Eiji was my favorite scene to write tbh. Ash and Eiji would be really cute as a high school couple tbh. Hmph. If only canon never existed. 
> 
> Also, maybe I should write more asheiji OC stories...I was thinking of starting that as a series? Hmm.
> 
> I wanted to mention real quick that Sofia may be a kid, but she’s truly a sass queen and basically encouraged Ash to confess in the first place aha. By the way, the scene in which she was dramatically rolling around in her electric wheelchair was inspired by this one Stan Twitter meme 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPU9LU5phNI
> 
> (do links even work? Anyway, it's the "hes really turribe your honor" meme. This guy was rolling around in his wheelchair while giving a speech in the middle of a court proceeding LMAOOO)
> 
> Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave feedback and scream, holler at me in the comments!!


End file.
